Father and son lighthouse keepers of twenty years and three years respectively are cut off from civilization by six miles of open sea. The father tells his son it takes five years to become a good lighthouse keeper and that he has seen everything that the job entails. Then the son asks if he has ever been in a lighthouse when his assistant keeper died. His father gets angry and explains that they are there to protect others and that god will protect them. The son finds it hard on his nerves being locked up in the lighthouse for thirty days and begins acting anxiously, he feels strange and afraid to be left alone.